CPJ hails conviction in journalist murder in El Salvador

New
York, June 7, 2012--The Committee
to Protect Journalists welcomes the conviction in the 2011 murder of Salvadoran
cameraman Alfredo Antonio Hurtado Núñez,
but calls on authorities to ensure that the other
gunman charged for the crime is brought to justice.

Hurtado, 39, was headed to his job as the night cameraman
for Canal 33's "Teleprensa" news program in San Salvador, the capital, on April
25, 2011, when two men shot him
multiple times, according to local news reports and CPJ interviews.

On May 31, a Salvadoran court found Jonathan Alexander Martínez Castro guilty in Hurtado's
murder and sentenced him to 30 years in prison, according to news
reports. Authorities have
also charged Marlon Stanley Abrego Rivas, who is currently a fugitive, for the
crime, according to news
reports.

Authorities reported
that the men, who are members of the violent Mara
Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang, targeted Hurtado because they believed he had
identified another MS-13 gang member to the police as the perpetrator of a
murder. News accounts reported that the gang members suspected the journalist
because they knew he covered police operations against local gangs for Canal 33.

"We welcome this conviction
as a rare blow against impunity, which sends a clear message to those who use
violent means to silence journalists," said CPJ Americas Senior Program Coordinator Carlos Lauría. "Authorities in El Salvador must
now ensure the other gunman is brought to justice."

CPJ
research has found that journalists
covering El Salvador's widespread gang violence often risk becoming targets
themselves. In March, after the Salvadoran
online newsmagazine El Faro exposed a secret government deal
with criminal gangs, a government official said El Faro journalists could be in danger for their reporting, but
did not offer any protection. In 2009, Christian
Poveda, a French-Spanish filmmaker who had documented gang violence in the
country for decades, was slain by members of the rival Mara 18 gang.